GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

S	2 

SENATE BILL 519
Pensions and Retirement/Insurance/State Personnel Committee Substitute Adopted 5/10/95

Short Title:  Purchases From Blind/Disabled.	(Public)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to:  

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March 29, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ENCOURAGE THE PURCHASE OF COMMODITIES AND SERVICES OFFERED BY BLIND AND BY SEVERELY DISABLED PERSONS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 143-49 is amended by adding the following new subdivision:
"(7)	To evaluate the nonprofit qualifications and capabilities of qualified work centers to manufacture commodities or perform services."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 143-48 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143-48.  State policy; cooperation in promoting the use of small, minority, physically handicapped and women contractors; purpose; required annual reports.
(a)	Policy. – It is the policy of this State to encourage and promote the use of small, minority, physically handicapped and women contractors in State purchasing of goods and services.  All State agencies, institutions and political subdivisions shall cooperate with the Department of Administration and all other State agencies, institutions and political subdivisions in efforts to encourage the use of small, minority, physically handicapped and women contractors in achieving the purpose of this Article, which is to provide for the effective and economical acquisition, management and disposition of goods and services by and through the Department of Administration.
(b)	Reporting. – Every governmental entity required by statute to use the services of the Department of Administration in the purchase of goods and services and every private, nonprofit corporation other than an institution of higher education or a hospital that receives an appropriation of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or more during a fiscal year from the General Assembly shall report to the department of Administration annually on what percentage of its contract purchases of goods and services, through term contracts and open-market contracts, were from minority-owned businesses, what percentage from female-owned businesses, what percentage from disabled-owned businesses, what percentage from disabled business enterprises and what percentage from nonprofit work centers for the blind and the severely disabled.  The same governmental entities shall include in their reports what percentages of the contract bids for such purchases were from such businesses.  The Department of Administration shall provide instructions to the reporting entities concerning the manner of reporting and the definitions of the businesses referred to in this act, provided that, for the purposes of this act:
(1)	Except as provided in subdivision (1a) of this section, a business in one of the categories above means one:
a.	In which at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the business, or of the stock in the case of a corporation, is owned by one or more persons in the category; and 
b. 	Of which the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more persons in the category who own it.
(1a)	A 'disabled business enterprise' means a nonprofit entity whose main purpose is to provide ongoing habilitation, rehabilitation, independent living, and competitive employment for persons who are handicapped through supported employment sites or business operated to provide training and employment and competitive wages.
(1b)	A 'nonprofit work center for the blind and the severely disabled' means an agency:
a.	Organized under the laws of the United States or this State, operated in the interest of the blind and the severely disabled, the net income of which agency does not inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any shareholder or other individual;
b.	In compliance with any applicable health and safety standard prescribed by the United States Secretary of Labor; and
c.	In the production of all commodities or provision of services, employs during the current fiscal year severely handicapped individuals for (i) a minimum of seventy-five percent (75%) of the hours of direct labor required for the production of commodities or provision of services, or (ii) in accordance with the percentage of direct labor required under the terms and conditions of Public Law 92-28 (41 U.S.C. § 46, et seq.) for the production of commodities or provision of services, whichever is less.
(2)	A female or a disabled person is not a minority, unless the female or disabled person is also a member of one of the minority groups described in G.S. 143-128(2)a through d.
(3)	A disabled person means a person with a handicapping condition as defined in G.S. 168-1 or G.S. 168A-3.
The Department of Administration shall collect and compile the data described in this section and report it annually to the General Assembly.
In seeking contracts with the State, a disabled business enterprise must provide assurances to the Secretary of Administration that the payments that would be received from the State under these contracts are directed to the training and employment of and payment of competitive wages to handicapped employees."
Sec. 3.  Article 3 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 143-48.2.  Procurement program for nonprofit work centers for the blind and the severely disabled.
(a)	An agency subject to the provisions of this Article for the procurement of goods may purchase goods directly from a nonprofit work center for the blind and severely disabled, subject to the following provisions:
(1)	The purchase may not exceed the applicable expenditure benchmark under G.S. 143-53.1.
(2)	The goods must not be available under a State requirements contract.
(3)	The goods must be of suitable price and quality, as determined by the agency.
(b)	An agency subject to the provisions of this Article for the procurement of services may purchase services directly from a nonprofit work center for the blind and severely disabled, subject to the following provisions:
(1)	The services must not be available under a State requirements contract.
(2)	The services must be of suitable price and quality, as determined by the agency.
(c)	The provisions of G.S. 143-52 shall not apply to purchases made pursuant to this section.  However, nothing in this section shall prohibit a nonprofit work center for the blind and severely disabled from submitting bids or making offers for contracts under G.S. 143-52.
(d)	For the purpose of this subsection, a 'nonprofit work center for the blind and severely disabled' has the same meaning as under G.S. 143-48."
Sec. 4.  Article 8 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 143-129.5.  Purchases from nonprofit work centers for the blind and severely disabled.
Notwithstanding G.S. 143-129, a city, county, or other governmental entity subject to this Article may purchase goods and services directly from a nonprofit work center for the blind and severely disabled, as defined in G.S. 143-48."
Sec. 5.  This act becomes effective January 1, 1996, and applies to contracts for which bids or offers are solicited on or after that date.